Macroalgae biodiversity in coral reefs of the Campeche Sound, the Mexican Caribbean and Belize

Abstract

We analyse macroalgae coverage of 24 coral reefs of the Campeche Sound, Mexican Caribbean and Belize. Most of the 73 species correspond to the tropical flora and even though a large number of them has a reduced distribution there are representatives pan-tropical and cosmopolitan. Given the scarcity of macroalgae quantitative data in these areas, this paper discusses the importance of some ecological attributes in their regional distribution. Those surveys involve records of 1 to 50 m of depth through underwater photography and selective collects. Greater dominance the green and red algae, recorded it the brown and blue-green algae were recorded to a lesser extent. The sites most different according to the Simpson index were: Chemuyil (14.9 bits/ind.) and Punta Allen (7.9 bits/ind.) in the Caribbean and Bajo Obispo (7.4 bits/ind.) and Arrecife Alacranes (7.2 bits/ind.) in Campeche Sound. High levels of affinity between the sites belonging to the same region, were recorded which is discussed on the basis of each system. The spatial distribution given by the PCA shows also groups that characterized to some system reef.